"Malcolm"  wrote in message
news:...
> "Jim McGinn"  wrote in message
> >
> > What causal forces--if any at all--are associated with
> > an allele becoming fixed?  (Think carefully before you
> > answer.)
> >
> Is this a trick question? 

I don't ask trick questions.

Say we have a population of mice. One mouse has
> the only allele in the population for a furry tail. It is recessive so it
> isn't expressed in his phenotype.
> One day he and another mouse emerge from a burrow. A hawk swoops. Our mouse
> runs for the bushes at the right, the other mouse runs for the long grass at
> the left. The hawk swerves right - end of the furry tail allele.
> The hawk's decision to swerve right has caused the elimination of the furry
> tail allele, and the hawk's decision was itself caused by who knows what.
> However from our perspective we can ignore the myriad causes of alleles
> being eliminated or passed on independently of their selective power. We
> just say "random chance has eliminated the furry tail allele".

What is the caual force?

[moderator's gentle suggestion: You first, Jim: what is the "caual"
(sic) force which eliminates the furry tail allele? I expect you
to say natural selection, but I'm willing to be surprised. But you
better hurry, otherwise you'll have to wait until 20 July to get
a reply in. - JAH]

Jim
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